Program for Research on Youth Development and Engagement

The Program for Research on Youth Development and Engagement (PRYDE) is a new initiative to create a nationally prominent program for translational research in 4-H Youth Development. Using cutting-edge behavioral and social science approaches to research and evaluation, PRYDE promotes positive youth development through empirical studies and by providing evidence-based best practices for 4-H and other youth organizations. PRYDE strives to generate new knowledge about youth development that will directly benefit the thousands of urban and rural 4-H participants in New York State and beyond.

PRYDE’s overarching goal is to make the New York State 4-H Youth Development Program a “living laboratory” for research and evaluation, using science to learn the best ways to promote optimal development of young people. Acting as an Institute, PRYDE engages faculty throughout Cornell University in developing research to foster youth development, promoting intervention studies that find new ways of solving problems affecting our youth, and helping researchers who wish to conduct studies with adolescents create new knowledge. Working with 4-H Youth Development programs across New York State to apply research findings, PRYDE will enable youth and communities to benefit from new tools and strategies. This, in turn, will continue the legacy of Urie Bronfenbrenner by blending science and service in a unique and effective way. In addition to its co-directors Anthony Burrow and Jane Mendle, PRYDE is led by an advisory committee of 4-H and BCTR faculty and staff.